Do Health Insurance Companies Cover Medical Marijuana?

A question that I often get asked is ‘does my health insurance company cover medical marijuana?’ Unfortunately, the answer is no. Medical marijuana has been proven to be an effect form of treatment for numerous conditions. There are well over 20 states in America that allow some form of medical marijuana. Exactly how many states allow medical marijuana depends on your definition of a medical marijuana program. Some states allow many forms of medical marijuana, while other states only allow CBD-only forms of medical marijuana. In the case of Minnesota, smoking medical marijuana is prohibited – you have to vaporize it, eat it, or take it in pill form.

Support for medical marijuana is the highest it has ever been in America, and more and more people are turning to medical marijuana for relief from their symptoms. More doctors are working with medical marijuana patients, and more states are exploring medical marijuana reform. However, health insurance companies are still staunchly against covering medical marijuana under their plans. Per Drug Watch:

The FDA must approve a drug before insurers will cover it as treatment. However, the FDA says it won’t approve medical marijuana until it sees clinical studies that answer questions about effectiveness, safety and potential side effects.

But it can’t get studies until the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issues a permit to researchers to purchase and experiment with pot. The researchers would then have to explain what they’re doing, why they’re doing it and how they would keep the pot secure during a clinical trial.

Health insurance companies will find any excuse that they can to deny coverage. The fact that marijuana is illegal under federal law is all health insurance companies need to deny coverage. Hopefully when medical marijuana is legal at the federal level, health insurance companies will be forced to change their policies. Until then, medical marijuana patients will have to find other means to pay for their medical marijuana doctor’s visits and medicine, which is far from cheap.